By By Jeff Byrd/The Meridian Star
Sept. 7, 2001
They are tied up at 20 games apiece, so something has got to give when Northeast Lauderdale heads south to face arch-rival Southeast Lauderdale tonight at 7:30 p.m.
The backyard brawl is top local game on the slate as both teams opened their seasons with wins last Friday night.
In other games involving Lauderdale County, Meridian takes on its second straight Top 10 foe when the Wildcats head north to face second ranked Starkville.
West Lauderdale, fresh off a 30-21 win over Florence, heads to Union. Mac Barnes' Lamar Raiders venture to Macon Central Academy. Clarkdale goes for win No. 2 when they travel to West Lincoln.
Outside the county, the Quitman Panthers travel southwest to Collins. Enterprise tries for a 2-0 record at South Leake while Heidelberg Academy hosts the only team to beat them last year in Simpson Academy.
Newton County will see the annual battle between Newton and Newton County. The Cougars have one of the area's top teams and opened with an impressive rout of Forest 35-0.
Two other top games of interest include Forest at Neshoba Central and University Christian at Kemper Academy.
The spotlight, though, will be on the showdown at Southeast's Tiger Stadium.
Southeast will try to neutralize Northeast's size advantage behind the spread out passing game led by quarterback Ben Reed. Reed threw for two touchdowns in the Tigers' 13-7 win at Coffeeville last week.
Northeast will counter with a defensive unit that blanked Heidelberg 28-0. The unit was led by middle linebacker Robert Carlisle, defensive tackle Eric Boyd and safety Dontrae Walker.
Jeff Byrd is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. Call him at 693-1551, ext. 3235, or e-mail him at jbyrd@themeridianstar.com.